The top IBM certification for Indian IT pros

India’s IT marketplace is well-stocked with IT based vendors. Many of them of course are startups, just having launched a brand new product or service, and simultaneously trying to acquire that critical first customer. Other vendors are a bit more established, having survived the first few years as a startup entity with a proven product or service, and a somewhat established customer base.

But there is another giant out there which people tend to forget, the ever-so-famous business entity known as International Business Machines (IBM). In financial circles, IBM is known affectionately as “Big Blue.” It was founded way back in 1911, and assumed its current name in 1924. Here are some amazing statistics about the forgotten giant:

Currently ranked No. 2 in the United States based purely upon employee size, which is right now at almost 440,000

World’s fourth-largest firm in terms of market capitalization

Ninth-most profitable business entity worldwide

Holder of the prestigious (and informal) title of being the second-most respected IT vendor in the world

Has generated the most number of patents in the past 22 years

Creator of some of the most notable IT inventions ever including the ATM machine, floppy disks, hard disk drive, magnetic stripe card, and even the first Relational Database Model (RDBM).

IBM’s Indian Dominance

It’s no surprise that one of IBM’s hottest markets for products and services is India. IBM has established a permanent foothold here, by creating a subsidiary known as “IBM India Private Limited,” with offices and plants in 14 cities, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Chennai.

IBM’s largest employee pool (33 percent of its global workforce) resides here in India. There are an estimated 150,000 employees here, dispersed throughout 14 cities, generating $35 billion (U.S.) in revenue, almost 30 percent of IBM’s global revenue of $120 billion (U.D.). India will be one of IBM’s largest market-growth segments, having just announced the investment of an additional $6 billion (U.S.) over the next three years. Clearly, IBM is a player in Indian IT.

IBM Certifications

Given all of these amazing figures and statistics, it is no wonder that IBM has become a desirable employer for IT pros. Competition is fierce, however, and, in order to be competitive for that lucrative position, obtaining the necessary certifications is of great importance. Because of its global market reach, IBM offers a plethora of certifications. Some of the leading certs include:

Software: This includes everything from business analytics to e-commerce (its dominant product is known as WebSphere) to security to version control management.

Hardware: The certifications offered here range from networking to power systems to hard disk storage.

Software Solutions: The training for the certifications also includes everything from cloud computing solutions to security solutions to social business and retail-based solutions.

The Best IBM Certification for India

With so many certifications from which to choose, what is a humble Indian IT pro to do? With the recent movement of Big Data analytics and modeling in the worldwide IT sector, obtaining an IBM certification of that sort will be one of the most lucrative options, and offer promising career choices.

With this in mind, one should focus upon obtaining a certification in IBM’s Cognos line of business intelligence and analytics solutions. Because this is Big Blue, once again there are lots to choose from.

Cognos 10 BI Certified Administrator

Cognos 10 BI Certified Designer

Cognos 10 BI Multidimensional Reports Certified Designer

Cognos 10 BI Data Warehouses Certified Developer

Cognos 10 BI Meta Data Certified Developer

Cognos 10 BI OLPS Model Developer

Cognos 10 BI Scorecards Developer

Cognos 10 Real Time Certified Developer

Based upon the advice of IBM’s own certification website, it’s highly suggested that, depending upon the specific type of business analytics sub field you work in, you pursue just that one level of certification. For example, if you are a database administrator, then you would pursue the 10 BI Certified Administrator certification; if a software designer, the second and third levels of certifications; and if you are a software developer, you would pursue any of the fourth to last certification levels.

There is no need to pursue multiple levels of certification, because all of them are worth their weight in gold. In other words, just pursuing one of these IBM certifications should prove to be lucrative enough for the business analytics field in which you are currently working.

Each of the IBM certifications listed above has their own unique set of requirements and exams a candidate must complete, to view the details of the specific IBM based business analytics certification track you are interested in click here.

Once you have decided which certification track is right for you, it is recommended that you follow IBM’s specific course of study. This may require taking official certification classes, or, if this option is too expensive, consider making use of the many comprehensive training books and guides offered by IBM. In order to pass any of these IBM Business Analytics based certifications, it is very important first that you take both the sample and skills assessment tests offered by IBM. After you have prepared for your designated IBM certification, you can then register to take the test at any IBM-sponsored Prometric Testing Center.

Obtaining any of these certs will mean lots of study and hard work, but in the end the financial rewards of an IBM certification in the business analytics realm will prove itself: The salary range is anywhere from $70,000 (U.S.) to $120,000 (U.S.).

Big Blue has a long history in India, and it’s not going anywhere but up!

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Ravi Das is a technical writer for Apollo Biometrics, Inc. Ravi holds a Master of Science Degree in Agribusiness Economics from Southern Illinois University and a Master of Business Administration (specializing in Management Information Systems) from Bowling Green State University. He lives in New York City.